The allegorical landscape paintings of Julie Heffernan

Julie Heffernan creates works described as “a new kind of history painting”. She conjures fantasy-filled landscapes that blend with urban imaginary all the while pointing to disaster either impending or recently realized. They feature the artist herself as she makes her way through an environment seemingly in the midst of transformation.

“My recent work is focused on making sense of the world around me after calamities such as Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil spill,” she says. “We are slowly making our world unlivable, and I want to bring to the surface the destructive action, waste, and contamination that is generally invisible to us. I need to imagine another way, to outfit myself with signs and banners that speak louder than I can, to envision how we might remake the world as it is slowly falling apart.” [h/t booooooom.com]